Actina™, reducing hardness with pellet softening

ACTINA™
Reducing water hardness
with pellet softening
ACTINA™
Pellet softening for drinking water treatment
The daily use of hard water (or scale-forming
water), loaded with calcium ions, results in
whitish limestone deposits most noticeable
on glassware and shower systems.
These deposits progressively clog hot water
pipes and affect proper operation of
household appliances and water heaters.
Chemical additives such as detergents,
sequestering agents and regenerating
agents can be used but overtime, the
efficiency of the devices decreases, resulting
in higher energy consumption.
For hard water above 30°F of HT (Hardness
Titration), it is recommended to treat the
problem as upstream as possible.
To soften hard water, Veolia Water Solutions
& Technologies has developed Actina™,
a pellet reactor process tailored to central
drinking water softening. By reducing
calcium hardness, Actina™ allows
municipalities and industries to enhance
the asset management of their distribution
network while preventing some negative
impact on the end users. For consumers,
this solution also allows a significant
reduction of the water bill when compared
to individual treatment devices.
ADVANTAGES
eolia’s more than 35 years of
V
expertise in pellet softening;
Compactness, simplicity and
reliability of operation;
Robustness and additional barriers
towards iron, manganese and
metals;
o limit on calcium hardness
N
removal;
Energy savings
→ unlike an electric carbonate
removal system;
No associated sludge treatment
needed.
ACTINA™: Operating principle
The Actina™ process is based on the pellet softening
principle, which consists in modifying the
calcium-carbon equilibrium in the water to be
treated. Soda or lime injection is used, causing
limestone crystallization on the sand.
Actina™ is composed of a vertical reactor in which a
bed of sand is maintained in fluidization, thanks to
the pumping of water to be softened. This very fine
sand is used as a crystallization seed for the pellet
softening reaction, that is to say the calcium
carbonate’s precipitation on the surface of grains of
sand. The highly basic pH enabling crystallization is
obtained by alkaline reagent (soda or lime) addition
to the reactor base.
The calcium carbonate thereby removed occurs as
beads of a few millimeters in diameter, easily
storable, transportable and recoverable.
The use of a fluidized bed allows Actina™ to run
with high rising rates, around 80 to 100 m/h and
confers it a small footprint.
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eolia strength: the soda or lime
injection system in the lower part
of the reactor
The injection system is paramount, as it must mix
basic reagent at the heart of the reactor while
avoiding local calcium carbonate deposits on the
injection orifice.
The injection device, patented by Veolia, ensures the
reagent’s online dilution with softened water and
the protection of injection nozzles. It is a liftable
system, easily accessible to the operator.
alcium carbonate beads: a reusable
C
final product
Beads are extracted at the reactor base when their
size reaches a few millimeters.
Once extracted, the calcium carbonate beads are
stored in filtering bins for small capacities, or in
draining silos. Following drainage, their water
content is lower than 5%.
The beads are easily transportable, and can be
recycled as road embankment material, pipeline
trench sublayers or cement raw material.
MORE THAN 50 PELLET SOFTENING REFERENCES
IN EUROPE
> Sète, France, (2008), 1,200 m3/h
> Emmerin-Arbrisseau, France, (2007), 1,250 m3/h
> Torcy, France, (2003), 375 m3/h
> Beaune, France, (2003), 500 m3/h
> Ijzeren Kuilen, Netherlands, (2000), 2,280 m3/h
> Malmö, Sweden, (1999), 5,400 m3/h
> Val-de-Reuil, France, (1994), 900 m3/h
> Leiduin, Netherlands, (1987), 12,500 m3/h
www.veoliawaterst.com/actina
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies
L’ Aquarène - 1, place Montgolfier
94417 Saint-Maurice Cedex - FRANCE
Tél. : +(33) 0 1 45 11 55 55
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Communications - 12/2013 - Photo credits: Jean-Marie Ramès, Veolia picture
library - SQUARE/F. Benausse/A. Desvaux/W. Crozes.
> Rouessé-Fontaine, France, (2015), 200 m3/h
> Mandelieu-La Napoule, France, (2014), 1,500 m3/h
> Montsoult, France, (2014), 280 m3/h
> Bruz, France, (2013), 275 m3/h
> Montry, Marne et Morin, France, (2012), 490 m3/h
> Puchay, France, (2011), 130 m3/h
> Bouil de Chambon, France, (2011), 500 m3/h
> Courcelles-la-Forêt, France, (2010), 160 m3/h
> Cluses, France, (2009), 250 m3/h